Strategic policies for knowledge transfer are pursued by strengthening, connecting and developing organisational units for knowledge transfer, developing new forms of knowledge transfer, organising events to promote good practices in knowledge transfer and developing lifelong learning programmes.
Prof. Dr. TANJA MIHALIČ Vice-Rector for Knowledge Transfer
Scientific research, business and the public sector are brought together in all fields developed at the University of Ljubljana in terms of education, research and consulting. The purpose of such integration is to transfer knowledge and services into the economy and wider society effectively and promptly. This is achieved through consulting, research and development, employment of our graduates, promotion of entrepreneurship, inclusion of practical experts in education and research, and through lifelong learning, training and specialisation programmes.
In 2015, 674 projects were carried out in cooperation with the business sector, exceeding an annual value of €9 million; 244 projects lasted over a year, 430 projects lasted up to a year, eighty projects were carried out in partnerships and 594 projects were ordered.
GWe hosted 607 experts from the corporate and public sectors and 473 professors, associates or researchers from Slovenian research institutes who were involved in the pedagogical process. In the other direction, 312 University of Ljubljana professors, colleagues and researchers participated at other research institutes in Slovenia.
In cooperation with other universities, research organisations and the Slovenian Government, the University of Ljubljana has made efforts to establish a national consortium for knowledge transfer that would improve the efficiency of transfer from university and research laboratories to both public applications and business commercialisation.
In 2015, we established the Slovenian Innovation Hub, which started its activities in 2016 to connect and promote R&D teams in academic and business spheres. Along these lines, we also established the University of Ljubljana global alumni and associates network (SMUL) to bring together scientists, professors and other respectable persons connected with Slovenia and who work in academic, research and development spheres abroad. In the Creative Way to Practical Knowledge project, we sought creative and innovative solutions for a variety of practical challenges posed by companies. We continued the tradition of granting the Rector’s Award for the best Innovation of the University of Ljubljana, which has connected researchers and students with the world of entrepreneurship for the past six years, and for the first time we organised the international Falling Walls Lab event, intended for the presentation of breakthrough research works, business plans, innovative projects and ideas by young persons.
The Social Entrepreneurship Centre, an interdisciplinary consortium of University of Ljubljana members, was established to develop research, education, counselling and other support activities in social entrepreneurship. The activities of career centres are strengthened every year, thus promoting cooperation with employers, organisations and alumni clubs.
Globalisation provides and requires ongoing adjustments and keeping track of changes. Our office aims to prepare students for such challenges even during their studies. We continuously enhance and upgrade services that allow them to develop soft skills and other competences, integrate into the international environment and cooperate interactively with foreign students and career counsellors.
MAJA DIZDAREVIĆ Head of Centre for Students’ Personal and Professional Development
We have strengthened cooperation with the career centres of several European universities and thus upgraded Skype services for career counselling for students interested in career opportunities in France, Hungary, Germany, Poland, Spain and Great Britain. During the project, we developed and organised educational and other events intended for building connections between students and employers. The events have become well-established among students, employers and the general public and quite popular. The events included “Challenges Abroad”, career fairs, the so-called speed-dates with employers, the Elevator pitch festival, “Ready for Entrepreneurship”, open days of University of Ljubljana Career Centres, career camp, “Build up your competences”, establishing connections with the fastest growing Slovenian companies and organising selection procedure simulations in cooperation with the Department of Psychology from the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana.
Pursuant to the Rules on Extracurricular Activities at the University of Ljubljana, 35 syllabuses for extracurricular sports activities were confirmed which will apply to the forthcoming seven year period. In addition to sports activities, the adopted rules have encouraged faculties/academies to evaluate other extracurricular activities as well. Among the first were the Legal Clinic for Refugees and Foreigners at the Faculty of Law, Project-Based and Experiential Learning at the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering and Tutelage at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana.
In 2015, Sports activities at the University of Ljubljana included a variety of programmes differing in volume, quality, standard and purpose. The offer includes programmes by the Centre for Extracurricular Activities (former Centre for University Sports), elective courses offered by certain University members and competitive sports programmes within the scope of the University of Ljubljana Sports Association (ŠZUL) and the Slovenian University Sports Association (SUSA). In the current academic year, students can choose from an expanded set of seasonal sports and recreation programmes, such as alpine skiing, sports and recreation, outdoor jogging and baseball. Students were also invited to attend the so-called sports holidays events, which are becoming increasingly popular.
The Ljubljana University Incubator (LUI) enables entrepreneurs and all those aspiring to test their ideas in the economy. We strive to win international recognition, the best starting point for new companies to enter global markets.
In 2015, we carried out over seventy workshops for young entrepreneurs and those teeming with entrepreneurial ideas, supported 32 innovative ideas within the scope of the Rector’s top innovation award contest, organised counselling and start-up weekends for students, took part in the “Creative Way to Practical Knowledge” projects and participated in the international Demola project, which brings together universities, companies, students, young graduates and secondary school students.
We continued our partnerships with various organisations and supported 135 start-up companies by the end of 2015. As many as 95 percent of the companies included in LUI are still in operation, and 42 percent of the companies incubated at LUI and alumni have already penetrated foreign markets.
The Institute (IRI UL) was founded by the University of Ljubljana together with 10 technologically advanced and successful Slovenian companies as a non-profit organisation under public interest. Its purpose is to promote the creation, transfer, dissemination and use of knowledge as well as the integration of the innovation triangle (research-education-innovation) through the transfer of research results into practice and their commercial use.
In 2015, the most important activities of IRI UL were focused on the energy efficiency improvement of University buildings. The Institute set up a central information system and included all University members in it. The central information system provides the basis for real-time data acquisition on energy use and is currently the only energy bookkeeping system of such scale in Slovenia. Furthermore, IRI UL cooperates with University members in the preparation of technical documents for energy efficiency improvements to their buildings and gives them advice on energy saving measures.
In 2015, the Institute successfully completed the TRAP-EE project (training for caretakers) and started coordinating a new CompoHub project. The key goal of the new project is to develop an educational programme and online educational platform for the development of employee competences in composite technologies.
The purpose of knowledge transfer from the University of Ljubljana into the economy is to focus on the Slovenian and international environments, which is why we have established and further strengthened cooperation in technology transfer within the scope of strategic partnerships with foreign universities.
Dr. MARIJAN LEBAN Assistant Secretary General at the University Office for Research, Development and Intellectual Property
Activities concerning intellectual property included procedures to acquire and protect employment-related inventions. The Rules on the management of industrial property rights at the University of Ljubljana were revised and now include the University members employing inventors in the invention acquisition procedure. Furthermore, the Rules adopted in 2016 cover unprotected know-how that provides marketing opportunities to interested users.
In 2015, we received 12 applications for new employment-related inventions and filed six new patent applications in Slovenia and two in Europe. Notably, seven Slovenian patents were granted in 2015 for patent applications filed by the University in past years.
English content is currently being transferred to the new University of Ljubljana website. The transfer will be complete in the following weeks. We kindly ask for your patience and understanding.
